Advice need on getting my cat into his carrier

mymeimei02

O.G.
Apr 3, 2008
1,661
201
Hi all,
So my cat Stitch needs to go the vet. I am dreading taking him because he absolutely hates getting in the carrier. Last time it took me almost an hour to shove him in. I felt bad because he hated it and was hissing, scratching and biting me. I ended up with a pretty deep scratch on my wrist. Anyway I tried wrapping him a towel but he kicks it off. Is there any easy way to get a cat into a carrier. I have a front door one plastic one if that makes any sense. TIA
 
Have you tried using a pillow case?
I am not sure how big he is, so this trick may not work. But it's a pretty good one.
Basically, you sneak up on him and just drop an open pillowcase over him. You can than scoop him up in the case. He probably won't squirm too much because he won't be able to get a solid footing on anything.
You can keep him in the pillowcase and take him to the vet that way. Or you can put the pillowcase in his carrier. I would recommend tilting the carrier so that the cage door is up in the air and just kind of dropping him in, pillowcase and all.
 
Definitely try tipping the carrier so it's the back wall is facing down, with the door side up, going the long way, and deposit your cat into it. That works like a charm for me.
 
You've already gotten advice on how to get your cat in the carrier - there's no perfectly easy way to do this if the cat really has a problem with the carrier ...

If you only take out the carrier when he's going to the vets he will hate it forever - you might want to try to get him used to the box by leaving it out for him to use to sleep in etc., make it nice and cosy with blankets etc. and he will perhaps actually get to like it :biggrin:
 
join the club...whenever i have to take my kitties anywhere in their carriers its like a friggin cat rodeo. i also put it on its end so the door is at the top and drop them in...when i can grab them.

i have also had luck by grabbing them by the scruff/skin on the back of their neck...like moms carry their babies...i of course also support them with my other hand...but my hand on the back of their neck really seems to control them better.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice. This really helps. I think putting the carrier on its back end down the door open facing up is the trick. I will try the pillow case since he already kicks off the towel. My Stitch is about 10 lbs so not too big. He just likes to kick and bite. I do leave the carrier out all the time and it has a towel in there too. OK wish me luck :biggrin:
 
My cat is also pretty squirmy when it comes to being in the carrier. Besides the door face-up tip, I'd also suggest to hold him with one hand under front arms, and the other under his bum. Drop him (gently but quickly) into the carrier bum-first so that he can't grab onto the edges of the door as you're putting him in.
As a kitten, I also took my cat on carrier rides/car rides that didn't involve the vet, left his carrier lying out, and involved it in playtime (ie, put toys/treats in it so that he would jump in voluntarily). He still tears around the house like a possessed animal when he sees me taking it out of the closet though!
 
This sounds awful but I tip the carrier so the opening is facing up, grab the victim--er, cat--by the scruff of the neck, and shove him inside. The scruff-of-the-neck hold makes it harder for them to fight back. It's brutal but effective. When you take your cats to the vet in batches you learn these things.
 
Wow! I had no idea kitties could be so difficult. When it's vet time I just open the doors of the two carriers, my cats stroll inside, I close the doors, then they start howling bloody murder. I've had both my kitties for nearly 15 years and it boggles my mind that they still don't realize it's not necessarily a good idea to walk into a cat carrier with an open door. They must not be too bright. When we get to the vet the vet has to turn each carrier on its side to shake the cats out.
 
^^That's hilarious!!

I don't know why but most of my cats will fight tooth and claw to avoid getting in The Box. I think they must pick up on my nervousness about it, or something.
 
One thing that really helped with my cats and carriers is a new carrier that we got, it has a hatch on top instead of just in front. MUCH easier to just plop them in the top than try to get them in the front part. They still don't like it but at least I can get them in there now! lol
 
Well I did it :biggrin: I got Stitch into his carrier with no problem. Putting the carrier with back end on the ground and the front door open up did the trick. I wrapped him in a towel sort of he kick it out and plopped him in back feet first and closed the door quickly. The funny thing was it was harder to coax him out from under my bed than it was to put him in the carrier. He saw me bring it out and he shot under my bed. :amuse: Thanks everyone for the tips. It really worked.
 
Wow! I had no idea kitties could be so difficult. When it's vet time I just open the doors of the two carriers, my cats stroll inside, I close the doors, then they start howling bloody murder. I've had both my kitties for nearly 15 years and it boggles my mind that they still don't realize it's not necessarily a good idea to walk into a cat carrier with an open door. They must not be too bright. When we get to the vet the vet has to turn each carrier on its side to shake the cats out.

I love that.
My cats are pretty easy going. I just open the front and put them in the doorway, poke 'em and they trot on in.
 
join the club...whenever i have to take my kitties anywhere in their carriers its like a friggin cat rodeo. i also put it on its end so the door is at the top and drop them in...when i can grab them.

i have also had luck by grabbing them by the scruff/skin on the back of their neck...like moms carry their babies...i of course also support them with my other hand...but my hand on the back of their neck really seems to control them better.

omg sara, I laughed sooooo hard when I read this. I love the visual of the cat rodeo, and I totally know what you mean because my older cat, Sweetie, is a three time cat rodeo champion lol.

She's so bad about the carrier, that we actually use a medium size dog crate to transport her. Forget getting her into a small carrier, that just ain't happening.

when I got Jinx, I decided to work on having him like his carrier right from the get go. I got him a top loading model, and he likes that pretty well. He actually doesn't fight when I put him in it.